Tidbits, Bric-a-Brac and Sundries

My dear Mum sent an email recently telling me how much she misses the old blog and although she appreciates the current look and feel most of what she reads nowadays does not hold much interest for her.

I totally understand where my Mum is coming from and in this post I’m going to make that extra effort to give the nerdy stuff a break and share a little about life as it is presently unfolding.

The old blog was originally set-up back in early 2005 to keep family and friends up to date with stories and photos about the adventures in the Land of the Unexpected after I came to Papua New Guinea to live and work as a volunteer through Australian Volunteers International. For the first few years I held true to this objective but some where along the way I discovered WordPress and blogging has not been the same since.

In those early days I thoroughly enjoyed sharing the PNG experience and coming up with anecdotes, stories and tales to share with you, the words and the content just seemed to flow without much effort. Nowadays I spend most of my blogging hours under the hood fiddling and focused on learning, experimenting and researching what it is that makes a blog or a website tick. I have learnt and picked up an incredible amount of hands on knowledge the past two years but in the process have lost the original aim of why I set this blog up in the first place.

So Mum… this post I dedicate to you and of course other dear family members, close friends and other readers out there getting bored with all the tech hype. And yep you guessed it…  I’m going to give it you in a list of “10 Things”.

1. My primary focus at this point in time is to find employment that will keep me in PNG beyond the end of my AVI (Australian Volunteers International) contract which comes to an abrupt end some time around mid February, 2010. Although I have followed up on various leads and submitted several applications – to date I have not met any success. With only three months left before “the end”, I hope you are able to appreciate the level of angst that this brings me. Not to mention of course the feelings that this situation triggers for Eli.
2. However and despite the failed attempts to date in finding an opportunity that will provide the means for us to remain in PNG – I persist. Some days I can feel despair well up within the bel as I face the possibility of having to return to Oz. Thankfully, there are also those times when I feel a deep faith and a confidence that things are going to work out. I am reminded again and again the connection between thought and circumstance. The source of negativity and positivity are the one and the same – it’s called mind. Right now I have a sense of the positive which interestingly leads me on to the next point.
3. I’m currently following up on a lead that is looking pretty healthy. It involves a bold vision, both government and private enterprise, the financial means to deliver and a leaning towards  Open Source Software (OSS). Two meetings within the past week and another scheduled for this Thursday evening. I remain focused and committed to what I believe is a golden window of opportunity for IT within PNG. How people out there continue to blindly push solutions which are unsustainable and are unable or unwilling to see the logic and financial sense behind the alternative of Open Source is becoming more and more difficult for me to understand. (Sorry Mum – for going techo on you).
4. In PNG a man can become a father very quickly! I have fought head, tooth and nail (is that the correct expression?) over the past two and a half years and have refused to have kids come and stay with us for longer than the mandatory few days. Young Isaac and John have been living with us now for well over a month – Anike has joined in recently – which makes three!! (see snap above). It seems ironic for this once a “forever bachelor” type bloke to tell you that somehow having the kids around lately has become more of a joy than a burden. We go for our afternoon strolls to the shops at West Goroka – get them a Gala ice-cream cone each – stroll over to one of the many buai na smiok markets – and I have a chew, a chin-wag and a laugh whilst the three young ones lick away at their treat.
   

   From L to R: Anika, Isaac and John after a facelift! (27/10/09)

5. The above photo was taken earlier this evening just before giving it the old  touch up using GIMP (my favourite imaging software). Whilst handing over a printed copy to the boys – and as they were deeply engrossed in Shrek 3 (the movie) – I told them with a serious look on my face that  if any of them so much as even smiled when looking at the photo I would cut off their nuts! Needless to say as I walked out the room I could hear the sound of giggles slowly rising followed by uncontrollable laughter. Just for the record I did not go back with a knife and follow-up on my statement. The lightness and fun the four of us had in this exchange turned out to be one of those special moments.
6. It is with both relief and a slight tinge of anxiety that I tell you that I have removed all traces of visitor counts to this blog. Those that blog will understand the obsession that can grab a site owner in wanting to see visitor counts go up and up and up.  For the past few days I have absolutely no idea how many are people are dropping by Trupela Tok for a read. Hopefully with less focus on statistics and visitor counts – the nature, quality and even the quantity of content will slowly change.
7. Ah yes… the village! I’m almost ashamed to tell you that in the past 12 months I have only visited and stayed at our “hut” on two occasions. Interaction with the locals can be overwhelming at the best of times but when one is married to a tribal the degree of intensity sky-rockets into dimensions incomprehensible to the uninitiated. Blood ties are strong and clan ties even stronger. I was born a white skinned man and shall die one – along the way I might pick up a new habit or two and even a skill here and there – but in the end the sense of individuality that so typifies the culture I was born into – will remain with me until I am no longer. The reason for the lack of visits to Wara-guma and Kaubasis is a drawn out and complex story and one that I will perhaps share with you another time. The longer I’m in PNG the more I see the need to find a balance between interaction and withdrawal. This fine line is a moving target and one that I suspect is going to take me a few more years to get a handle on. There was a time when I viewed tribalism as something romantic, adventurous and out of this world. Nowadays, this sense of romance I once had has all but disappeared and mostly what I see now is the human suffering experienced by Papua New Guineans as their leaders continue to thrust change upon them in the name of progress and economic development.
8. On the work front things could be better. During the first two years we really kicked goals and through perseverance and hard work we put Goroka General Hospital on the PNG IT Map. We’ve deployed around 60 PC’s and Laptops around the Hospital and close to 200 staff have now received basic computer training. The vision I developed soon after arriving at the Hospital to leverage Open Source Software as a basis for a much needed Electronic Patient Record system has continually been met with adversity, non interest and even discouragment from the powers to be. This lack of support has certainly put a dent in my levels of motivation and many days I come into work in body only with my spirit wandering the ether somewhere in search of a new adventure and challenge.
9. On a brighter note – I was approached recently by an International Advertising Agency after they informed me that my blog had been selected and put forward to one of their clients as candidate for some type of social awareness campaign. After reading the first email I automatically assumed that I was looking at some type of elaborate scam – on further investigation of the company and their domain name I became convinced that I was dealing with a reputable firm. Some emails have since been exchanged and although I’m still not 100% clear what will be expected of my blog I’m incredibly curious what the ultimate task and reward for my effort will be. My time as full-time volunteer is slowly drawing to an end and although I will continue to give of my time and energy to the odd worthwhile cause – it’s time to re-focus and build up the old bank balance a smidge.
10. I miss my cat. Manam remains a free agent and is still wandering around the bush somewhwre up at Mangiro. I sit at home of an evening and can almost hear his meowing – wishing that he would just jump over the fence and come running into my lap. Miss those snuggles when 1st waking up of a morning and the “cat-dog-ery” that he and “Gelo” would get up to every 2nd day.  Still got some baracuda in freezer if we are ever lucky enough to bring him back home. Pets… they really do become a part of ones life don’t they! Almost like kids – part of the family.